The merger of Cone Health and Alamance Regional Medical Center became official today after closing papers were filed earlier this week.

Approval by the Federal Trade Commission was required before the deal was completed. Alamance Regional Medical Center CEO John Currin said Tuesday part of the merger agreement establishes a new $54 million Alamance Community and Health Foundation.

Currin said the foundation has been chartered and an executive director will soon be selected. The foundation’s funds will be used to improve the local community’s health and economic conditions. Currin said the grant application process to access the foundation’s funds will begin in 2014.

Prior to the merger, the organizations were not allowed to meet to discuss strategic plans on how to move forward. ARMC Chief Operating Officer Preston Hammock said the FTC’s investigation on how the merger would affect local competition took much longer to complete than the organizations anticipated.

Plans for the merger were announced in December 2011 and officials initially said they hoped it would be complete by October 2012. The FTC decided not to object to the merger.

“We felt like the regulation review held us at the starting line, but it gave us some time to really think how we wanted to proceed,” Hammock said.

Hammock said the organizations will soon meet to develop a strategic plan on how to improve services.

Currin said Cone Health and ARMC would be slowly integrated and become a stronger organization. ARMC will maintain its name. Changes to ARMC’s human resources department and employees’ benefit plans won’t likely start until January.

“We will take the best of both organizations and look at ways we can do even a better job,” Currin said.

ARMC becomes the sixth hospital in the Cone Health network.

Cone Health CEO Tim Rice said Tuesday the public won’t see immediate changes in day-to-day operations. In the coming weeks, Rice said Cone Health and ARMC will develop a plan to add value to health services in the Triad.

“It’s a real exciting growth opportunity for us both,” Rice said. “We are similar organizations with common cultures.”

Cone Health employs 8,600 people. ARMC employs more than 2,000 people and operates satellite operations in Mebane Medical Park, West End Medical Park and other centers in Burlington.

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